Engines of the Spanish Gunboats.
The Torpedo Boat Problem.
SUGAR MAKING IN LOUISIANA.
Sticking, or Court Plaster.
AN IMPROVED HOISTING PULLEY WANTED.
THE VACUUM METHOD OF MAKING ICE.--An ice and cold producing
machine has been invented by Herr Franz Windhausen, Brunswick. The
action of the machine is based on the principle of producing cold
by the expansion of atmospheric air, which is accomplished by means
of mechanical power. The machines require no chemicals, nothing
being used in them but water and atmospheric air. They may be
wrought by steam, water, or wind, and they produce from 100 to
1,000 lbs. of ice per hour, according to size, at a cost of from
2d. to 5d. per 100 lbs., this difference resulting from the varying
prices of fuel and the mode of working chosen. One of their uses is
to cool rooms, cellars, theaters, hospitals, compartments of ships,
etc.--Builder.
FERDINAND DE LESSEPS--CHIEF PROMOTER OF THE SUEZ CANAL.
AN INGENIOUS VENT PEG.
THE LARGE TREES OF TEXAS.--The large court-house of Navarro
county is said to have been covered with shingles made from a
single cedar tree. The oaks, pecans, and cedars of that section of
the country attain an immense size. A pecan tree in Navarro county,
on the banks of the Trinity, measured twenty-three feet in
circumference. The cedars are often more than 100 feet high.
ELECTRIC MESSAGES.--Although it may require an hour, or two or
three hours, to transmit a telegraphic message to a distant city,
yet it is the mechanical adjustment by the sender and receiver
which really absorbs this time; the actual transit is practically
instantaneous, and so it would be from here to China, so far as the
current itself is concerned.
A New English Patent Pulley Block.
Plants In Sleeping Rooms.
PATENT OFFICE ILLUSTRATIONS.--We are indebted to Messrs. Jewett
& Chandler, of Buffalo, N.Y., for advance sheets of the
illustrations designed to accompany the Report of the Commissioner
of Patents for the year 1868. We have frequently had occasion to
commend the skill and fidelity of these illustrations. They are
most admirably done, and the value of our Patent Office Reports is
much enhanced thereby. In fact without these illustrations the
reports would be of little value.
Improved Treadle Motion.
Improved Method of Catching Curculios.
Remains of a Megatherium in Ohio.
Artificial Ivory.
AMERICAN AND ENGLISH RAILWAY PRACTICE CONTRASTED.
BOILER COVERING.
Attachment of Saws to Swing-Frames.
PATENT DECISION.
Inventions Patented In England by Americans.
Russ' Improved Wood Molding Machine.
A Lost Civilization.
GIRARD'S "PALIER GLISSANT."
BEES BENEFICIAL TO FRUIT.--Dr. A. Packard, editor of the
American Naturalist, replies to a query in regard to the
effects produced upon fruit by the agency of honey bees, that all
the evidence given by botanists and zoologists who have specially
studied the subject, shows that bees improve the quality and tend
to increase the quantity of fruit. They aid in the fertilization of
flowers, thus preventing the occurrence of sterile flowers, and, by
more thoroughly fertilizing flowers already perfect, render the
production of sound and well developed fruit more sure. Many
botanists think if it were not for bees, and other insects, many
plants would not bear fruit at all.
THE SUEZ CANAL NOT YET A FAILURE.
TUBULAR BOILERS AND BOILER EXPLOSIONS.
AMERICAN RAILWAY MANAGEMENT.
THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE PRIZES AWARDED TO STEAM ENGINES.
A PROTEST AGAINST THE CANADIAN PATENT LAW.
THE BRIGHTER SIDE.
PROFESSOR FISKE'S LECTURES AT HARVARD.
SCIENTIFIC LECTURES BEFORE THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE.
THE BATTLE FIELDS OF SCIENCE.
HOW FRENCH BANK NOTES ARE MADE.
WHAT THE NEWSPAPERS SAY.
CHINESE METHODS OF PRESERVING EGGS.
STEAM BOILER INSPECTION.
EDITORIAL SUMMARY.
THE STEVENS BREECH-LOADING RIFLE.
A NOVEL FRENCH HAND VISE.
THE MOUND-BUILDERS IN COLORADO.
THE MOUND-BUILDERS IN COLORADO.
THE WOVEN-WIRE MATTRESS.
Flouring Mill Hazards.
Fire-Proof Buildings.
The Decline of American Shipping.
Aerial Navigation--A Suggestion.
Puttying Floors of Jewelers Shops and Otherwise.
Western Demand for Agricultural Implements.
Economical Steam Engine.
Friction and Percussion.
Oiling a Preservative of Brown Stone.
Interesting Correspondence from China.
Communication Between Deaf and Blind Mutes.
Cheap Cotton Press Wanted.
A Singular Freak of a Magnet.
Speaking makes the ready man, writing the correct man, and
reading the full man.
PRESERVATION OF IRON.
THE BANANAS AND PLANTAINS OF THE TROPICS.
PUTTING UP STOVES.
THE MAGIC LANTERN.
The Largest Well in the World--Capacity 1,000,000 Gallons of
Water per Day.
PAPER FOR BUILDING.
The Prussian Government has military maps of every foot of its
territory so complete that every hill, ravine, brooklet, field, and
forest is delineated with perfect accuracy. It is a common boast of
Prussian military men, that within the space of eight days 848,000
men can be concentrated to the defense of any single point within
the kingdom, and every man of them will be a trained and
well-equipped soldier.
Improved Muzzle-Pivoting Gun.
Stock Feeding by Clock Work.
Milk, and What Comes of It.
Improved Hay Elevator.
The Emperor of France is said to be interested in the art of
flying and to have given money to fledge some inventions.
IMPROVEMENT IN LAMP WICKS.
Great Transformation.
American agricultural implements are highly praised in newspaper
reports of the Metropolitan Cattle Show, held recently in
London.
BUSINESS AND PERSONAL.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
RECENT AMERICAN AND FOREIGN PATENTS.
NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.
How to Obtain Letters Patent for New Inventions.
Official List of Patents.
ADVERTISEMENTS
THE Scientific American FOR 1870
